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One of the most ambitious plans to commemoratethe Chisholm Trail is being carried out in JohnsonCounty, where the residents want to make thefamous route come alive for travelers seeking tolearn more about Texas' western legacy. TheJohnson County Historical Commission, assisted bythe Commissioners of Johnson County, the CityCouncil of Cleburne, and the Chamber ofCommerce of Cleburne have all endorsed the several-layeredplan.Already underway, the first part of the project celebratesthe trail journey. But unlike the drovers whocame this way in the1800s and traveled with fewdirections, today's visitors will be guided by concreteposts emblazoned with the words "ChisholmTrail." These pillars already mark some 30 miles ofJohnson County's scenic roads and guide vehicletraffic along the Chisholm Trail. The hope is that theposts will eventually mark the entire Chisholm Trailfrom Oklahoma to Mexico.

Besides the guide posts, the county hopes to also/)cGt1f^>c^ ^c^1^-/1 create a Chisholm Trail Museum and restore the oldtown of Wardville, Johnson County's first seat of

government in 1854. That community served as aprimary campsite on the Chisholm Trail.

According to Billy Cates, one of Johnson County'sChisholm Trail project organizers, the museum site,located at the edge of Cleburne, will include a decorativememorial 80 feet long and 12 feet tall. Oneof the first sights that visitors will see, the imposingstructure will feature alternating metal silhouettesof horses and trail-riding cowboys atop a rockpedestal base. Lettering in the rock work will read,"Welcome to Cleburne-on the Chisholm Trail."From that memorial (see above, photo by Billy Cates),visitors will eventually be able to stroll a river walkpath skirting the Nolan River to an amphitheaterwhere plays and readings commemorating thefamous trail route will take place. Cates said thatthe metal and stone memorial will be completed bylate spring 2003 and that other aspects of the projectwill be undertaken as fundraising progresses.

This simple and elegant marker honoringIndian interpreter, trader, and forger of thetrail-driving frontier Jesse Chisholm, sits at the entrance to theFrontier Times Museum in Bandera. Though not officially on thefamed Chisholm Trail, Bandera is justifiably proud of its cattlelegacy. The Frontier Times Museum was started by J. MarvinHunter, who published Frontier Times in the 1930s and '40s,using this building as the base of his operations. Hunter isknown for compiling first-person accounts of the trail drivers ofTexas.